An elderly person Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An elderly person - Essay Example I discovered the hardships and abusive ill-treatment people face in our community when they grow old. It is only heartbreaking how elderly people do not receive the protocol by younger generations who do not, for once, consider the fact that they shall have to go through the same age later in life. This paper entails the abuses and neglects that people face at older ages and measures that can be taken to overcome these issues. A brief visit As I entered the old home, the disturbing smell of mothballs and urination got me. Soon immune to it, I moved on to identify people that might be most appropriate to be interviewed. Most of them had humped backs as if they carried burden of a million secrets for years. As I settled on a creaking bed to begin my interviews of selected people, I couldn’t make out if the squeaking sounds in the background were that of the bed or of their rusty knees moving. Each of them comfortably shared their experiences and as their wrinkled and leathery li ps moved, I could feel tears trickling down my cheeks hearing the tragic stories behind those blue and green veins and frail-skinned once-young people. Abuse and neglect of the elderly My findings from interviewing people at the institution concluded that they all have gone through some kind of abuse during their ageing periods. They face situations frequently where they are abused and neglected. This included physical abuse where their loved ones carried out actions aimed at injuring, hurting or causing physical pain to them. Due to old age, these people are like wilted flowers that cannot stand the pressure of air waves. They are incapable of defending themselves against physical violence and end up suffering from bruises, strains, burns and fractural wounds. Even worse, many elderly people were troubled through emotional torturing and psychological abuse. Using insulting verbal statements and humiliating language are common gestures that trigger psychological maltreatments. More commonly observed instances included threatening by their caretakers to desert them at old homes or similar institutions and hence some of them eventually ended up there. Rarely, there were cases that claimed that their family members were engaged in misappropriation of money or inheritance property and coercion to sign desired wills or legal documents. Mostly neglect was deliberate on part of their caretakers who intended to punish them by keeping them underfed or deprived of medications and other necessities. However, rarely some were of the view that their family was too occupied or incapable to take proper care of them (Lachs & Pillemer, 1995). Corrective measures The question that arises is how to stop this social evil that has embedded as part of our community. I inquired from my interviewees how they suggest this obstacle can be overcome. It is important that masses be educated at national level and through organizational activists and pressure groups so that awareness is est ablished and moral values are enhanced at individual level. It is the system and perceptions of people that need revamping to be free from prejudice against old people. Campaigns must be conducted to create better awareness and regulations must be incorporated that discourage and penalize such abusive acts. Rights of old people need to be restored through changes in legal frameworks and concept of institutionalization must be suppressed strictly.